Dual-speed elevation turret for rifle scopes

ABSTRACT

A turret for mounting on a rifle scope, e.g. for elevation adjustment, may comprise dual adjustment mechanisms. A course adjustment may provide long range adjustment of a reticle position within a single turn of the course adjustment. A fine adjustment may provide fine adjustment of the reticle position within a single turn of the fine adjustment. Each of the course adjustment and the fine adjustment may be provided with click-stop arrangements for audible and tactile feedback of the adjustment mechanisms.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent applicationsSer. No. 62/652823, filed Apr. 4, 2018, the contents of each of whichare herein incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to turrets for riflescopes, in particularfor adjusting windage and/or elevation.

BACKGROUND

A rifle scope (also called a “scope”) is an optical sighting systemmounted on a rifle to improve its aiming accuracy. In a rifle scope, the“point of aim” is usually designated by a reticle or cross hairs.Reticles are most commonly represented as intersecting lines in a ‘+’shape though many variations exist, including dots, posts, circles, etc.In a rifle scope, the reticle's shape is superimposed on the targetimage to provide a precise indication of the point of aim.

Modern rifle scopes are equipped with at least two turrets (adjustableknobs) for making elevation (up-down) and windage (left-right)adjustments to the point of aim. The turrets are precision mechanicalassemblies which are mechanically linked to the reticle. Turning theturrets causes very precise vertical or horizontal movements in thereticle so that the sight's point of aim can be aligned with thefirearm's “point of impact”.

The point of aim in a rifle scope is set to match the “point of impact”of the rifle at a given distance (say 100 meters). This is calledzeroing-in the riflescope. It is necessary to re-adjust the scope incases when the target is at different distances. For instance, if ariflescope has been zeroed-in at 100 meters, it needs to be re-adjustedwhen the distance to the target becomes 200 meters or 300 meters. Thisadjustment is performed by dialing (turning) the elevation turret.

The turrets used for elevation adjustment are usually marked with scalesor indicia that show the amount of angular adjustment in units whichcould be as small as ¼ MOA (Minute of Arc) or 0.1 Milliradian (MIL).They are also designed such that moving from one position to the nextmakes a “click” so the shooter can also hear or feel how many MILs hehas dialed into his rifle scope.

In recent years, interest in long range shooting has been rising.Therefore, riflescopes that allow a shooter to zero his rifle at alonger distance (say 600m) have become desirable. Since bullet dropincreases significantly at longer distances, the shooter has to dial inmany “clicks” in order to match his scope's point of aim to the bullet'spoint of impact.

In response to this requirement, some manufacturers have introducedmulti-turn elevation turrets. For example, Schmidt and Bender, awell-known manufacturer of riflescopes from Germany has introduced a5-turn elevation turret that offers an extremely accurate 0.050 MILper-click adjustment value and a total elevation adjustment range of39.3 MIL. This means, this turret can go through nearly 800 clicks!

Experienced shooters understand that it is difficult to turn ariflescope's turret by a precise number of clicks in a dark environmentor when wearing gloves. The problem is compounded when the turret canturn more than once. This makes it very challenging to reset amulti-turn turret to its original zeroed-in position.

It is evident from the above review of the state of the art that thereis a need for a single-turn elevation turret that can provide bothhigh-precision and large adjustment range at the same time.

SUMMARY OF ONE EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Advantages of One or MoreEmbodiments of the Present Invention

The various embodiments of the present invention may, but do notnecessarily, achieve one or more of the following advantages:

the ability to provide different ranges of adjustment for a zero-in markof a rifle scope;

provide a large range of adjustment for a rifle scope;

provide both course adjustment and fine adjustment of a rifle scope witha single mechanism;

provide multiple adjustment devices each with detectable click-stopmovement.

These and other advantages may be realized by reference to the remainingportions of the specification, claims, and abstract.

Brief Description of One Embodiment of the Present Invention

In one aspect, there is a provided a turret for a riflescope. The turretmay include a base for connecting the turret to the riflescope. A courseadjustment and a fine adjustment may be supported within the base. Thefine adjustment may have a screw thread pitch that is finer than a screwthread pitch of the course adjustment. A reticle engagement componentmay be engaged by at least one of the course adjustment and the fineadjustment. Actuation of the course adjustment and the fine adjustmentmay cause movement of the reticle engagement component.

In one aspect, there is provided a turret for a riflescope. The turretmay include base means for connecting the turret to the riflescope andreticle engagement means for engaging a reticle of the riflescope. Theturret may also include course adjustment means and fine adjustmentmeans for moving the reticle engagement means.

The above description sets forth, rather broadly, a summary of oneembodiment of the present invention so that the detailed descriptionthat follows may be better understood and contributions of the presentinvention to the art may be better appreciated. Some of the embodimentsof the present invention may not include all of the features orcharacteristics listed in the above summary. There are, of course,additional features of the invention that will be described below andwill form the subject matter of claims. In this respect, beforeexplaining at least one preferred embodiment of the invention in detail,it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in itsapplication to the details of the construction and to the arrangement ofthe components set forth in the following description or as illustratedin the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and ofbeing practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to beunderstood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are forthe purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is substantially an isometric view of the dual-speed turret ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is substantially adjustment screws of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is substantially a cross-sectional view of the adjustment screwsof FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is substantially an exploded view of the movement piece andadjustment screws of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is substantially an isometric view of the movement piece andadjustment screw of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is substantially a bottom isometric view of the movement piece ofthe present invention.

FIG. 7 is substantially an exploded view of the base, movement piece andadjustment screws of the presentation invention.

FIG. 8 is substantially an exploded assembly view of the presentinvention.

FIG. 9 is substantially an isometric view of the dual-speed turret ofthe present invention.

FIG. 10 is substantially a cross-sectional side-view of the dual-speedturret of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments,reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part ofthis application. The drawings show, by way of illustration, specificembodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is to beunderstood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changesmay be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

As stated above, turret solutions that can account for large ranges havebeen proposed, but with many of these solutions featuring multiple turnsthat make it difficult for the shooter to know the precise position,especially in low light, when wearing gloves, etc. The presentdisclosure provides an enhanced solution. In accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure, an elevation turret features twoknobs for “coarse-tuning” and “fine-tuning” the point of aim. In oneembodiment, each knob only turns one turn (or a fraction of a turn). Themain knob (course tuning) is graduated at 1 MIL/click and provides 12clicks within a single turn. The fine-tuning knob is graduated at 0.05MIL/click and provides 20 clicks also in a single turn. This arrangementallows the shooter to dial very pricewise adjustments to the point ofaim of the riflescope in a much more convenient way.

A general view of the dual-speed turret according to the presentinvention is shown in FIG. 1. With reference to this figure, the turretcomprises a “rough adjustment knob” (3) and a “fine adjustment knob”(1). These two knobs mesh with a rough adjustment screw (10) and a fineadjustment screw (11) shown in FIG. 2.

With reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the rough adjustment screw (10) has athreaded hole 102 which allows the fine adjustment screw (11) to bescrewed inside it. The thread pitch 112 on the fine adjustment screw(11) is finer than the thread pitch 104 on the outside surface of therough adjustment screw (10). Also, the fine adjustment screw (11) istaller than the rough adjustment screw (10) such that when it is screwedinside the rough adjustment screw (10), its bottom end 114 protrudesfrom the rough adjustment screw (10) (See FIG. 3). A reticle engagementcomponent 20 includes a bottom plate 20 that has a contact surface 220(the bottom surface as shown in FIGS. 3 and 10) that, in use, engages areticle assembly of a riflescope. The reticle engagement component 20 isengaged by at least one of the adjustment screws 10, 11. In theembodiment depicted, the fine adjustment screw 11 includes an internallongitudinal hole 116 in its lower end. The base 20 includes an upwardprojecting stem 224 that can be inserted into the hole 116 to secure thereticle engagement component 20 to the fine adjustment piece 11. Thereticle engagement portion may be considered optional. In alternativeembodiments, one or both of the course adjustment 10 or fine adjustment11 may engage the reticle directly.

The turret includes a base piece 8 that may be secured to the riflescopein engagement with the reticle. In one embodiment, the riflescope (notshown), may include a threaded aperture that receives a turret. Thethreaded aperture may have a standard size. The base 8 of the turret mayinclude a threaded lower portion 82 that can be received into thethreaded aperture of the riflescope. The adjustment screws 10, 11 andthe reticle engagement piece 20 may project through the base piece 8 andthus, in use, through the threaded hole of the riflescope to engage thereticle within the riflescope.

The principle of operation of the dual-speed turret can now beunderstood with reference to the preceding description and withreference to FIGS. 1, 3 and 10. The turret may be secured to ariflescope by securing the thread 82 of the base 8 to a complementarythreaded hole in the riflescope that aligns the turret with the reticlewithin the riflescope.

When the rough adjustment screw (10) is turned via the knob (3), thebottom plate (20) will make relatively large vertical movements due tothe relatively large thread pitch 104 on the outside surface of therough adjustment screw (10). But if the fine adjustment screw (11) isturned via the fine adjustment knob (1), the bottom plate (20) will makerelatively small vertical movements because of the fine thread pitch 112of the fine adjust screw (11). The bottom plate (20) makes contact withthe reticle assembly inside the riflescopes and causes the reticle toshift on the target image proportional to the adjustment values “dialedin” using the knobs (1) and (3).

In a riflescope it is desirable that the adjustment knobs make “clicks”so that the shooter receives tactile feedback when he or she dials in aspecific adjustment in the elevation turret. For this purpose, the fineadjustment screw and the rough adjustment screw are together mounted ina rough-adjust movement part (2). As shown in FIG. 4, the rough adjustmovement part (2) has a wider top part 202 and a narrower bottom part204. The inner wall of the top part has vertical indentations (21) (FIG.5) which are used to create a “click stop” movement feature when thefine adjust screw (11) is turned.

The rough adjustment screw (10) is mounted inside the rough adjustmovement piece (2) as shown in FIG. 5. The inner wall of the bottom part204 has indentations (22) (FIG. 6) that mesh with the indentations onthe top of the rough adjustment screw (10) such that these two parts arerotationally connected. Therefore, the rough adjust screw (10) turnswhen the rough adjustment movement piece (2) is turned. (See FIG. 6).Also, the bottom part 204 of the rough adjust movement piece (2) is longenough such that the rough adjustment screw (10) can move up and downfor a few millimeters without losing rotational contact with the roughmovement piece (2).

Another feature of the rough adjust movement piece (2) is that itincludes the indentations (25) on the bottom side of its top part 202(see FIG. 6). These indentations are used to induce “click-stop”movements when the rough adjust knob (2) is turned.

The rough adjust movement piece (2) will be mounted onto the base (8) asshown in FIG. 7. With reference to FIG. 7, the base (8) includesmounting holes for one or more ball bearings (26) which make contactwith the indentations (25) cut onto the bottom surface of the roughadjust piece (2). These ball bearings are supported by small springs(not shown) so that they move up and down when the rough adjust movementpiece (2) is turned. This, in turn, provides mechanical resistance sothat the rotation of the rough adjust movement piece (2) will have a“click-stop” nature.

With reference to FIG. 7, the base (8) also includes an internalthreaded hole (24) which the rough adjustment screw (10) is screwedinto. Therefore, turning the rough adjustment piece (2) will cause therough adjustment screw (10) to move up and down inside the base (8). Theheight of the base (8) is chosen such that the bottom plate (20) whichis attached to the bottom end of the fine adjustment screw (11) (itselfbeing mounted inside the rough adjustment screw (10)) will protrude fromits bottom end to make contact with the reticle assembly inside theriflescope.

FIG. 8 shows a nearly complete assembly of the dual-speed turretincluding the fine adjustment knob (1), the rough adjustment knob (3)and the fine adjust movement part (4). Once the turret is fullyassembled, the rough adjustment knob (3) is securely connected to therough adjust movement piece (2) via one or more screws. The rough adjustmovement piece (2) is itself in mesh with the rough adjustment screw(10) as described before. So, in the end, turning the rough adjustmentknob (3) turns the rough adjustment screw (10) by the same amount.

With reference to FIG. 8, the fine adjustment knob (1) is connected tothe fine adjustment screw (11) via the fine adjust movement piece (4).The fine adjust movement piece (4) can be made of plastic or othersuitable material. It features a semi-circular groove (13) cut into itsouter perimeter. A pin (17) mounted in the perimeter of the roughadjustment knob (3) and pointing towards the center enters into thegroove (13) and limits the range of rotation of the fine adjust movementpiece (4) with respect to the rough adjustment knob (3). This grooveprovides a limiter. As a result of this feature, the fine adjustmentknob (1) turns less than 360 degrees when the rough adjustment knob (3)is held at a fixed position.

The top side of the fine adjust movement piece (4) has one or morethreaded holes 42 which allow it to be firmly connected to the fineadjustment knob (1) via one or more screws 119 through similar holes 118in the top of the fine adjustment knob 1. (See FIGS. 8 and 9).

The bottom side of the fine adjust movement piece (4) has a hollowcylindrical section whose inner wall has indentations that match theindentations machined around the top end of the fine adjustment screw(11). Therefore, when these two parts are mounted together, they will berotationally linked. The hollow cylindrical section is made long enoughto allow the top section of the fine adjustment screw (11) to move upand down inside it.

The fine adjust movement peace (4) further includes a ball bearingmounted in a recessed position on the outside of its perimeter. Thisball bearing makes contact with the vertical indentations (21) carved onthe inside surface of the top portion of the rough adjust movement piece(2) to provide “click-stop” movement for the fine adjustment knob (1).

FIG. 9 shows an external view of the complete dual-speed turret. Thisfigure also shows an optional locking knob (9) which can move up anddown. This knob can be used to lock the rough adjust knob (3) so that itcan not turn accidentally or when the fine adjustment knob (1) isturned.

A side-view of the complete dual-speed elevation turret is shown in FIG.10.

The dual-speed turret described in the present disclosure can be usedboth for elevation (vertical) and windage (horizontal) adjustment in ariflescope. The turret is mounted on the riflescope such that the base(8) is fixedly attached to the riflescope's main housing and the bottomplate (20) makes contact with the reticle assembly inside theriflescope. This ensures that when the rough adjustment knob (3) or thefine adjustment knob (1) are turned, the reticle is shifted by aproportional amount inside the riflescope.

To operate the dual-speed turret, the shooter first rotates the roughadjustment knob (3) which is graduated at 1 MIL/click to a setting closeto the desired elevation. He or she then turns the fine-adjustment knob(1) which is graduated at 0.05 MIL/click to set the precise amount ofelevation adjustment. While specific adjustment rates are describedherein, the person skilled in the art will recognize that otheradjustment rates are feasible and will depend on the size of theadjustment knobs, pitch of the screw threads, etc. Further, while theApplicant has described embodiments in which both the rough adjustmentknob and fine adjustment knob are designed to travel through a range ofa single complete turn, the person skilled in the art will recognizethat other ranges of movement are contemplated within the scope of theinvention. The key provision is a rough or course adjustment knob thathas a different, i.e. faster, adjustment rate to a fine adjustment knob.

The dual-speed turret enables the shooter to dial-in very preciseadjustments to the point of aim of the riflescope in a fast andconvenient way. Since each knob makes only a single turn, there is noneed to remember the number of turns.

Although the description above contains many specifications, theseshould not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention but asmerely providing illustrations of some of the embodiments of thisinvention. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined by theappended claims and their legal equivalents rather than by the examplesgiven.

What is claimed is:
 1. A turret for a riflescope comprising: (A) a base for connecting the turret to the riflescope; (B) a course adjustment supported within the base, the course adjustment comprising a first screw thread comprising a first screw pitch; (C) a fine adjustment supported within the base, the fine adjustment comprising a second screw thread comprising a second screw pitch that is finer than the first screw pitch; and (D) a reticle engagement component that engages at least one of the course adjustment and fine adjustment; (E) wherein actuation of the course adjustment and the fine adjustment causes movement of the reticle engagement component.
 2. The turret of claim 1 wherein the course adjustment is rotationally mounted within the base.
 3. The turret of claim 2 comprising a course adjust movement piece that is rotationally linked to the course adjustment.
 4. The turret of claim 3 comprising a first click-stop arrangement between the course adjust movement piece and the base.
 5. The turret of claim 2 wherein the fine adjustment is rotationally mounted within the course adjustment.
 6. The turret of claim 5 wherein rotation of the course adjustment relative to the base also rotates the fine adjustment.
 7. The turret of claim 5 comprising a fine adjust movement piece that is rotationally linked to the fine adjustment.
 8. The turret of claim 7 comprising a second click stop arrangement between the fine adjust movement piece and the course adjust movement piece.
 9. The turret of claim 1 comprising a limiter for limiting the rotational range of the fine adjustment with respect to the course adjustment.
 10. The turret of claim 9 wherein the fine adjustment is limited to a rotational range of less than 360 degrees for a fixed position of the course adjustment.
 11. A turret for a riflescope comprising: (A) base means for connecting the turret to the riflescope; (B) reticle engagement means for engaging with a reticle of the riflescope; (C) course adjustment means for course movement of the reticle engagement means; and (D) fine adjustment means for fine movement of the reticle engagement means.
 12. The turret of claim 11 wherein the course adjustment means is rotationally mounted within the base means.
 13. The turret of claim 12 comprising course adjust movement means for rotating the course adjustment means.
 14. The turret of claim 13 comprising first click-stop means between the course adjust movement means and the base means.
 15. The turret of claim 12 wherein the fine adjustment means is rotationally mounted within the course adjustment means.
 16. The turret of claim 15 comprising fine adjust movement means for rotating the fine adjustment means.
 17. The turret of claim 16 comprising second click stop means between the fine adjust movement means and the course adjust movement means.
 18. The turret of claim 11 comprising limiter means for limiting the rotational range of the fine adjustment means with respect to the course adjustment means. 